First Blog Entry of 2009.......and I just got used to writing 2008!! Oh well.

The kids are back in school now and we have hopped right back into our crazy, fun, never boring routine. We had a fabulous Christmas!! Some of the highlights are:

*** Letting the boys exchange names and then taking them shopping all at the same time (what was I thinking???). We had to be pretty sneaky and creative in our shopping to keep things a secret. I had fun and the boys enjoyed picking out something fun for one another and bringing it home and wrapping it up.

***A fun Christmas Eve when my cousin and his family drove up here from Littleton. Yummy ham, yummy rolls, etc! We played a fun gift exchange game and visited and visited and enjoyed one another's company. It's nice to have family close.

***A trip to Dillon, CO and the boys skiing on "Scout Ski Day". A few days before Christmas was "Scout Ski Day" and so we got a great deal on lift tickets. Barton and the big boys bundled up (it was a high of 5 degrees that day!) and spent the day in the snow. Mom and Bryan hung out at the condo and the mall. It was a fun time. I had my first experience driving on a snowy I-70 through the mountains while on the ski trip. My knuckles were white. When I see semi trucks with chains on their tires, I don't get an easy feeling!

***Barton and I decided we were going to do way less Christmas presents for our kids and focus on other fun things and focus less on the commercial-ness of the season. It was so much less stressful that I actually I enjoyed making some treats with the kids and taking them to our neighbors, watching some great Christmas movies and just chilling out and not feeling like I had a million more presents to buy and wrap. Thanks to my friend Suzanna who gave me the idea!

***We enjoyed having family near to us this Holiday Season. The holidays in Illinois were a little lonely for us with no family near-by, so this year was a nice change from that.